10.21.2013

I lived with my parents for over a year, but I actually started looking for apartments only a few weeks after my return.

What I found was that rentals in my chosen neighborhoods (Madeira, Kenwood, Blue Ash, and Montgomery) were HELLA expensive. Possibly more expensive than Hyde Park, thanks to the low number of rentals available in the first place. I was looking at one-bedroom apartments that were $850 a month.

So one day, frustrated with the apartment listings, I started browsing a real-estate site. I had a little fun playing with the property search ... and then, suddenly, I saw it. A house in Madeira ... that I could actually afford?

Curious, half disbelieving, I clicked the mortgage calculator. Not only could I afford it, it would be WAY cheaper than an apartment in the same neighborhood. It would even be cheaper than the efficiency I had seen listed two blocks away.

I had never believed people who said buying was cheaper than renting. Turns out, I had been looking at the wrong kinds of houses for my single income. This house was teeny-tiny as homes go - basically a two-bedroom apartment with a basement. But it's just me and the cat, and she said she could do without the extra space, so I called up the agent to take a look.

That house ... is not the KHome. I liked it; I even tried to put in an offer on it; but someone else got it first. But from then on, I wasn't looking at apartments anymore. I had caught the buying bug.

Just a quick update to say that I got the results back from the lab, and they got it all! Yay! No more not-quite-cancer!

As it turned out once I got the bandage off, I had 14 stitches.

Yikes.

Since getting the stitches removed, that wicked-looking Frankenstein scar has calmed down into a sedate red line. Other than that, the only thing I have to remember my melanoma-in-situ adventure is my quarterly dermatologist appointment.

So. Again. If a thing looks or feels weird, and you have insurance (which in a few months should be more of you), get. The thing. Checked. Out. Best case scenario: you get out of a couple hours of work to be told there's nothing wrong with you! It's basically a mini-vacation with a creamy center of validation, and that's if your fears are unfounded. Do it!